Adversity and How to Deal with It

It almost never happens. When the first week of April comes there always seems to be an exception to the weather for Augusta, GA, and the Masters Golf Tournament. Somehow, some way, it always seems like the weather is perfect… until it's not, like this year in 2023.

For the first time in a number of years, an enormous storm system put weather into a negative effect on the golfers at the Masters. You don't have to like golf to appreciate when things get really tough---the rain is coming down in sheets and the wind is blowing causing the golfers to look more like they're dressed for a snowstorm than a sunny day on a golf course. That was the case on Friday and Saturday as golfers were put out of their norm and caused immense physical damage to the course as trees were literally blown over.

If you're a golfer, how do you handle this? Several players on Friday played when the weather was nice and many others were forced to play on the same day, on the same course, in absolutely horrific weather conditions. In some ways, it doesn't seem fair. So, what are you going to do?

While you may not play golf, we're all dealt with bad situations. Things that aren't fair. And we're left with the same exact question that the golfers were at the Masters... What am I going to do about it? What's amazing about golf is that it's one of the few games where there are no officials who are actively engaged to keep score or keep the rules intact. The players do it on their own, most of the time against themselves. That mentality is what you saw from most golfers, especially the most successful ones, as they didn't complain about the differences in weather or playing conditions, but just played and did their best.

That's why I love the game of golf, as a spectator and as a player. There's nowhere to hide. It's all on you. And the best players I've ever played with and have watched don't complain. They just overcome. They learned to deal with hardship and find ways of working around it. It's a great lesson both personally and professionally. Unfortunately, golf isn't the most popular sport but hopefully, on an interesting weekend like this one, the golfers at the Masters can teach us all something about overcoming adversity.